Tuesday, 31 May 2011

We hope that the many events planned for Wales Sustainability Week were all successful. Our event was a daily contribution to this blog and as such it's interesting to see what the level of interest has been in this blog and also online activity in general for the month of May.

This ESDGC blog has been viewed 238 times by readers (in descending order) from the UK, USA, Germany, Japan, China, Fiji, Ireland, Italy, Russia and Bangladesh, so we've had a good coverage from many parts of the world. It's hoped that through this global audience the commitment of Wales as a nation and the University of Wales has to sustainable development and global citizenship is enhanced.

More generally, a Google search today returns 684 results for "Wales Sustainability Week", which includes six news items, up to 58 tweets (including those that use the hashtag #wsw11) and 10 mentions on Facebook. This is perhaps a little disappointing in that the week was not ultimately disseminated more widely across the internet, and it doesn't seem to have been mentioned much at all in newspapers. Perhaps there should be a greater drive for online events in 2012 to allow a greater number of people to participate, not only in Wales but from around the world.

It is intended that this blog continue with future posts regarding education for sustainable development and global citizenship from the School of STEM at the University of Wales.

Friday, 20 May 2011

Following on from Professor Simon Haslett’s article in the Western Mail, I thought I would highlight an exciting Sustainable Development and Planning Conference due to take place at one of the University of Wales’ collaborative centres:

The 5th International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning will be held on the 12-14th July 2011.

The venue is the Wessex Institute of Technology (WIT). WIT is situated in the heart of the New Forest National Park in England and runs PhD and MPhil degrees in Engineering validated by the University of Wales. It is a unique organisation with the overall aim of developing knowledge transfer mechanisms between academics and professional users within industry.

This conference aims to bring together scientists and other stakeholders from across the globe to discuss the latest scientific advances in the field, as well as to seek and highlight developments in managerial strategies and assessment tools for policy and decision makers at the planning level.

The conference addresses the subject of regional development in an integrated way in accordance with the principles of sustainability. It has become apparent that planners, environmentalists, architects, engineers, policy makers and economists have to work together in order to ensure that planning and development can meet our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations.

It will be addressing issues such as the increasing urbanisation of the world coupled with the global issues of environmental pollution, resources shortages and economic restructuring. It will also look at how environments such as rural areas, forests, coastal regions and mountains face their own problems that require urgent solutions in order to avoid irreversible damage. The use of modern technologies in planning and their potential to monitor and prevent environmental degradation will be discussed.

Thursday, 19 May 2011

Please click on the title of this blog post to read an article by Professor Simon Haslett published today in the Western Mail newspaper. The article is both a contribution to Wales Sustainability Week and a celebration of ESDGC activity taking place within the University of Wales, its Alliance partner institutions and Collaborative Centres. Sustainable activity is one of the University of Wales' core values and is promoting Wales' commitment to sustainable development around the world.

Wednesday, 18 May 2011

Professor Simon Haslett, Dean of the School of STEM at the UNiversity of Wales, has posted a number of videos on YouTube that he has created whilst undertaking his geographical field research. Here are two of them, but please visit his YouTube Channel to explore over 60 videos that have been posted to help the public better understand science and climate change.

A webinar conversation, as part of Wales Sustainability Week, between Dr Gavin Bunting and Professor Simon Haslett of the School of STEM at the University of Wales on what sustainable development means to the public and to organsiations.

Sunday, 15 May 2011

Click on the link above to view Dr Ronald Johnson's (University of Wales, Newport) presentation to the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Annual Conference 2010 in Toronto. The resources include PowerPoint presentation and YouTube videos. This contribution was part of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the University of Wales, Newport, pedagogic research expedition (ExPedr) for 2010 to Canada.

Saturday, 14 May 2011

Over yesterday and today, the inaugural University of Wales Student Research Conference has been taking place in Cardiff. It features research being undertaken by PhD and MPhil students within University of Wales Alliance institutions and its Collaborative Centres, and is a dynamic and exciting opportunity for University of Wales research students to meet up and discuss their research.

Some of the research topics are in the field of sustainable development and global citizenship. For example, the research of Jennifer Osula, a University of Wales student studying at the Greenwich School of Management in London, is investigating FairTrade. Her poster presentation entitled "The role of motivation in bridging the attitude-behaviour gap" is featured below:

I had a chance to talk to her about her research in the following interview:

(unfortunately, the sound quality isn't very good - apologies)

Also of the Greenwich School of Management, Buyoke Taslim is researching "The Application of Best Value Practices in the Management of Public Service in Nigeria":

These are only a couple of research projects underway by the 1100 or so University of Wales postgraduate students in Wales and around the world related to sustainable development and global citizenship.

Welcome to our blog. Today is the first day of Wales Sustainability Week 2011. It runs 14-21 May and many events have been organised as part of the weeks programme. The School of STEM at the University of Wales is contributing to the week by creating this blog and through the release of articles, podcasts, videos, webinars, and more throughout the week. Please feel free to leave comments.